Now that Geely chairman Li Shufu is the largest single shareholder in Daimler, there's a strong possibility that the two firms could cooperate on tech development.

According to the German business publication Manager Magazin, the partnership could even extend to Daimler buying a small stake in Volvo, which Geely owns, and potentially supplying engines and other components to the Swedish marque.

The technology partnership would allegedly have Geely and Mercedes creating a platform for electric vehicles together. However, Manager Magazin specifically notes that the collaboration wouldn't involve the producing battery cells together without citing reasons why this is out of the question.

For those of us who are looking at premium and near premium product - and are accustomed for them to have a few more glitches due to advanced technology - I would like to point out that neither Audi nor BMW are measurably better than Mercedes - I am sure you are familiar with the Plastic Bmw Water Pumps as well as their problems with Engine management software - and Electronic problems in general - and AUDI also has a poor reputation - not only for reliability - including engine failure - transmission problems(Both Auto and Dual Clutch Auto) as well its electronic problems.

The difference for me has been that I use a Local Mercedes Dealer that I have used for decades - and I have found they often are able to get problems solved and covered better than other ones. In addition - In that time - they have had only TWO service managers - and I know most of the techs by first name - they are well trained - and have been there for years as well - which is a good sign.

Noting that ASTON will be using Mercedes (Specifically AMG) engines in their vehicles in the future. AS far as being slightly behind the curve in Valve technology - I am happy not to have been the subject of experimentation by Mercedes on me and MY cars. I am happy that Mercedes stuck with TorqueConverter/Planetary gearset Automatic transmission rather that switching to Dual Clutch - which many other manufacturers have suffered through - including Ford, VW, and now Toyota (The new Camry has a Dual Clutch unit) and their abrupt shifting which appears to be inbred into the design. THAT may be good for Race cars - but not for consumer cars.

For me - having been in the Auto Universe rebuilding transmissions - I have felt that it is not whether a car will have problems - they all will - it is how they respond to them and fix them that matters. I find that the cars that are most reliable - tend to be dated designs without current technology. ANd it is correct - you will never have a window motor explode in a car with Crank windows.

TomM wrote "...I would like to point out that neither Audi nor BMW are measurably better than Mercedes..."

According to readily-available defect numbers ("defects per 100 new cars" and "long-term reliability"), both Audi and BMW score better than Mercedes. So if you're getting a car and you want fewer defects, then this is something to consider.

I realize this is not the only measure of a car, and it might not be a high priority for some consumers, and so it's less of a big deal for some than for others.

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